Here are the details.
There was a married couple with a small child.
Both parents had a will, for their share of things.
The spouse that passed away, had a life insurance policy.
The beneficiary was the child.
The high legal fees had nothing to do with the house, per say.
It had to do with the life insurance.
The deceased's will had left the life insurance benefit to the young child.
But, the lawyer who wrote the will, had given the advice that the child should not get any of the money until age 30.
The surviving spouse had to spend the high legal fees, to get the deceased's will changed.
It was changed so the child would receive the funds at age 18, not 30.
The will had the "estate" holding the funds, until the child was aged 30.
The argument for the will change, was many fold.
The child might need the money for college, or get married and need the money, or pass away and never see any of it, and many more reasons why the child should get the money at age 18 instead of age 30.
It was costly, but the surviving spouse got the will of the deceased, changed.
The child got every last penny from the life insurance, and the surviving spouse got no benefits from the will change. Their purpose in getting it changed, was for the benefit of the child.